Ultimate EZ Bottle Milker

by Natalie Voss

The Smiths were thrilled to discover the Udderly EZ™ milker a few years back—a hand-held, trigger-operated vacuum pump so easy that even newcomers to dairy cows could use it. It was easier to clean than pulsators, and was gentler on cows.

Although the Udderly EZ™ was fast, its only real disadvantage was that it could only milk one teat at a time.

One day when Joy returned from a trip away from the farm, Robert, an electrical/mechanical designer, was excited to show her his updated take on the Udderly EZ™. Robert had connected the gentle vacuum apparatus of the Udderly EZ™ to a vacuum compressor, resulting in a mechanized version of the Udderly EZ™ which has since been dubbed the Ultimate EZ Milker.

The Ultimate EZ combined the ease and simplicity of the hand milker with the speed of the compressor. Silicone inserts remained gentle even on engorged teats, and the process of attaching the milker to the teats doesn’t require wrestling with the four-pronged claw and a nervous cow. Once attached, the vacuum is also ideal for a sensitive cow with mastitis or a cut on the teat.

“We don’t have any problems with kicking anymore when we use it. It’s absolutely amazing. We train our cows so much faster now with the Ultimate EZ milker,” said Smith, who has been using the Ultimate EZ for four years. “I would say every single one the people who bought cows from us all have switched to it.”

Even better, the compressor is just as easy to use as the hand pump—which makes Smith feel more comfortable leaving home and allowing friends or neighbors to milk their cows for them.

“A lot of our customers are retired,” she said. “We’re all starting in this late. We’re not young anymore, so this Ultimate EZ milker has really helped people because you wonder how long you can milk the cow. You really don’t have to worry about getting hurt by the cow.”

“It takes me seven minutes to milk a cow, two gallons of milk in the bucket … I can milk all my cows in 20, 25 minutes, and that’s doing them one at a time. I can milk them faster than they can eat their scoop of oats.

“It would be great for goats, or really any animal,” she said.

Now that she’s started using the Ultimate EZ, the Smiths say they’re never going back, and they don’t expect their customers will, either.

by Natalie Voss

When the Dotsons first started their operation, they used the Udderly EZ hand-operated pump milker, which Sanford said is ideal for a small number of sheep.

“We lost our first lamb who was born here on the farm. It was a cold winter morning and we didn’t have any way to get milk out of the momma,” recalled Sanford. “That kind of made us panic … we started using the Udderly EZ to pump the colostrum out to give to the baby.”

As their flock grew, the couple purchased two bucket milkers designed for goats, which fit the sheep well and milk them out quickly.

Recently, Buck Wheeler, inventor of the Udderly EZ, stopped by Good Shepherd Cheese to demonstrate a new milker—the Ultimate EZ, a vacuum milker with all the comfort and easy fit that the Udderly EZ is renowned for, with the speed of a pulsator-type machine.

The unit comes equipped with a vacuum gauge and regulator to maintain the pressure on the teats. It is very important not to operate higher than the recommended 12.5 Hg of pressure for cows, and 11 Hg of pressure for goats and sheep, which are clearly marked on the dial.

Dotson, who was just coming to the end of the milking season at the time of the demonstration, reported that the Ultimate EZ is just as fast and just as comfortable for his sheep as the bucket milker and has the same ability of milking two teats at once.

“These really produce a lot of milk, especially right at the first of milking season,” he said. They can actually burst a blood vessel inside their udder and cause the milk to be bloody. When we catch that, instead of pulling her completely out of the milking line, we can let her come on in and we can use the Udderly EZ or this new system and milk them, but it doesn’t go into the milk supply.”

While he plans to switch to a pipeline system to keep up with his growing flock, Dotson said he will keep a couple of Ultimate EZ milkers around next milking season for days when a ewe is sick or has been given antibiotics or dewormers and needs to be milked out without adding the milk to the tank.

“That’s a life-saver for us, because otherwise we would have to hand milk and that would make the process even slower,” he said.

He also notes that the Ultimate EZ, which will be new on the market this year, would be excellent for backyard farmers with a handful of sheep, goats or a cow or two for that matter who don’t want to invest in a pipeline system and need an efficient and sanitary means of milking their animals. It’s also ideal for animals with engorged teats or udders, or animals with mastitis, as the silicone tubing eliminates the friction present with other means of milking.

As the Dotsons grow their operation even more, it’s a relief to them to know that a critical part of the process has just become EZier.

by Natalie Voss

Today, they have 65 Alpine and Alpine/LaMancha cross goats at the ranch, where they operate one of just two Grade A goat dairies in the state. Currently, all of the dairy’s raw milk is shipped to Bleugrass Chèvre in Lexington, where it is made into cheese.

Luisa Dalton, who is originally from Germany, keeps with the European practice of allowing the goats to keep their horns. Her research indicates that it helps them regulate their temperatures, and saves a lot of trauma for youngsters.

Another important part of keeping the goats happy is finding a milking method that’s quick and comfortable for them.

The Daltons tried hand milking first.

“After 20 goats, I said ‘Ok! [Enough]!’” laughed Dalton. “We needed something different.”

The biggest struggle in their search for equipment was finding something that would fit goats. It was easy to find second-hand dairy cattle pulsators, but those wouldn’t fit the does’ teats. Eventually, they discovered the Udderly EZ hand pump, which both milked the goats quickly and fit them comfortably.

“I was amazed,” she said. “The hand pump milker takes a little more time than hand milking itself, but you don’t have the labor of using your hands. It’s a whole lot cleaner, a whole lot more sanitary because the milk goes right into the jug.”

Recently, the Daltons got the chance to try the all-new Ultimate EZ, which combines the compressor of pulsator machines with the comfortable apparatus of the Udderly EZ hand milker. The vacuum and silicone inserts remain gentle even for nervous does or those inflamed teats.

“It milks really well, and I like how you can see how the milk fills the jug up,” she said. “For us, it would be a great thing if you had animals in sick pens or that you try to keep separate that you don’t want to have going into your tank.”

The Ultimate EZ is simple to take apart and clean unlike many pulsator machines, and Dalton said she likes that it’s more sanitary than other machines.

Dalton has a bucket milker as well, and she said the Ultimate EZ is superior in terms of comfort.

“The Ultimate EZ seems to be gentler, because it doesn’t have the pulsating, massaging movement on their teats,” she said. “I would think in the long run it’s gentler on the animal. The animals didn’t mind at all when we put that on. With goats it’s a whole lot easier to startle or irritate a goat than a cow. They notice everything, and it also milks at the same speed as the bucket milker.

The Double D goats eat grain while they are being milked, so the experience is a treat.

“They just like to come into the parlor. They associate being milked with something positive,” she said. Dalton is happy and just as importantly, so are her goats.